Battle of Sufa

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel at approximately 6 a.m., firing rockets and conducting a major ground and air assault against Israeli targets around the Gaza Strip, engaging civilians and military personnel alike.^[5][6][7]

Attack on kibbutz

By about 7:30am, Hamas militants reach Kibbutz Sufa, similar to when other militants reach Kerem Shalom, suggesting close coordination between different groups of militants.^[8]

According to footage captured by Hamas militants wearing GoPro cameras, militants on motorbikes indiscriminately fired guns and rocket launchers at people on the streets before arriving at the gates of Kibbutz Sufa. According to CNN, a militant fired shots into the town from a moving motorcycle, displaying the indiscriminate nature of the attack. Militants then climbed over the yellow front gates in what The Telegraph called a coordinated maneuver, walking past an unoccupied guard post. The kibbutz had extensive defenses like barbed wire and mechanized gates.^[9][8]

After breaching the gate, the Hamas gunmen exchange fire with people inside the kibbutz. Once inside the kibbutz around approximately 7:50am, Hamas militants went door-to-door shooting anyone in sight, at times inside people's homes at point blank range. In one instance, militants find an open loft hatch and shoot inside. Some civilians and security personnel inside homes return fire. Hamas gunmen then shoot the tires of an ambulance found nearby.^[9] After hearing an apparent phone ring, a militants shout the Hebrew word for "mother" to lure residents out of hiding.^[8]

Six armed residents in the kibbutz fought off an estimated several dozen Hamas militants for six hours until the first IDF units arrived.^[10] As Hamas attacks on the kibbutzim unfolded on October 7, a company of all-women tank operators headed from its base in Nitzana to the Israel-Gaza border. From there, one group stayed to guard the border, one crew went to Kibbutz Holit and one went to Sufa. According to the IDF, over a 17-hour battle, the all-female tank crews killed 50 Hamas militants, which Paran Brigade leadership credited with halting the Hamas advance further south inside Israel.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Three Israeli civilians were killed in the attack on the kibbutz. Twenty Hamas militants were killed, and 10 were captured by Israeli security forces.^[10] Israeli authorities recovered an ISIS flag on the body of a dead militant at the kibbutz. Israeli authorities stated that the militants planned to raise the flag but were killed by Israeli security forces.^[16]

Attack on military outpost

Later in the day on 7 October, Hamas released a video of their militants taking over a military outpost located near Sufa, showing the bodies of Israeli soldiers they had killed.^[17] After the outpost was overrun, some of the Golani Brigade soldiers stationed there evaded being captured or killed by hiding inside a bunker on the base. Shortly after the initial assault by Hamas, Shayetet 13 naval commandos were sent to retake the outpost and work in conjunction with other units in the area to rescue hostages and regain control.^[1]

The Shayetet 13 commandos were inserted by helicopter, and after a skirmish with Hamas militants, successfully regained control of the outpost and took care of the wounded.^[2][3]

The 227 surviving residents of the kibbutz were evacuated to hotels in Eilat. On 18 January 2024, 50 families were moved into temporary homes in Ramat Gan and 30 families were moved to Ofakim, which was also the site of a Hamas attack on 7 October.^[18]

The engagement at the military outpost in Sufa became a symbol of the Israel-Hamas war in Israel, after IDF soldiers fought and stopped the advance of Hamas militants at point-blank range. By mid-January 2024, the Sufa military outpost was one of 13 out of 14 outposts rehabilitated by the Technological and Logistics Directorate of the IDF.^[19]

• List of engagements during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
• Outline of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war